interesting read

Two fired in engine runaway Amtrak workers fail to stop locomotive from rolling out of spotsylvania yard.

Unmanned VRE locomotive travels six miles in Fredericksburg area

Date published: 10/10/2007


By KELLY HANNON

The Virginia Railway Express locomotive that rolled through the Fredericksburg area two weeks ago was unlike any other.

First, it pulled no cars.

But, even more unusual, no one was driving it.

The unoccupied, 118-ton engine was under repair in Spotsylvania County when it took off for a six-mile run on the CSX main line before it was stopped in southern Stafford County. It reached a top speed of 40 mph.

No one was injured when the runaway locomotive left the VRE storage and maintenance yard off the U.S. 17 bypass on an evening two weeks ago.

But the incident resulted in the dismissal of two Amtrak-contract employees who repair VRE trains. Remaining employees were put through a 72-hour training session to review safety measures.

VRE officials reported the incident to federal transportation officials, but made no public statement about the situation until The Free Lance-Star inquired about it.

"The public was not in harm's way, and there was no other train in its way," VRE spokesman Mark Roeber said yesterday. "That being said, you have safety protocols in place for a reason, and they were not followed in this case, and we took the measures necessary to make sure it never happens again."

The incident started at VRE's Crossroads maintenance yard at 8:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 26.

Amtrak workers were replacing brakes on the locomotive when it began to move. The workers had not blocked the locomotive's wheels or applied the emergency brake, two required protocols, Roeber said.

The VRE maintenance yard is on an incline. The locomotive rolled downhill on the yard's tracks, out of the yard, and was traveling around 40 mph when it entered the main tracks, Roeber said. The tracks are owned by CSX Corp. of Jacksonville, Fla.

The locomotive traveled through crossings at Mine and Lansdowne roads in Spotsylvania, into Fredericksburg and across the Rappahannock River on track that is shared by passenger and freight trains.

Amtrak and CSX dispatchers were able to track the locomotive's progress.

"We were able to track the movement of the car once it was on our tracks the whole way," CSX spokeswoman Meg Sacks said.

The locomotive triggered the flashing lights and gates at the Mine and Lansdowne road crossings.

The locomotive had slowed to 10 mph as it approached the Fredericksburg train station, Roeber said.

A CSX crew caught the train a half-mile north of the Rappahannock River in Stafford, Roeber said.

An engineer hopped aboard, gained control of the locomotive and drove it back to the maintenance yard.

There were no passenger trains in the area. There was a freight train nearby, but dispatchers knew to keep it away from the locomotive.

"There was never a time the public was at risk," Roeber said.

VRE typically shares news with passengers through daily e-mail updates, called Train Talk.

This time, nothing was announced. Roeber said passengers were not informed of the incident because it did not affect service, no one was injured, no property was damaged and VRE was not at fault. The railway also did not want to publicize that two Amtrak-contracted workers lost their jobs, Roeber said.

Representatives from Amtrak, CSX and VRE met the night of the incident.

Amtrak fired the two workers who were replacing the brakes, and additional supervisors were brought in over the next three days to review safety procedures, Roeber said.

This was the first time in VRE's 15-year history that an unmanned rail car or locomotive traveled from a yard onto main tracks.

The Federal Railroad Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were notified of the incident, Roeber said.

Officials at both agencies confirmed this yesterday.

Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: [email protected]